Grace-God's Promise

          The Promise, what did God promise humanity? Think about the promises God made. He made a promise with Adam and it was broken. He made a promise to Noah to never again destroy the whole earth with a flood. He made a promise with Abraham, that he would be the father of a great nation; he would be famous and a blessing to all the families of the Earth. He promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son. They both laughed but God kept his promise.

          God made a promise to Isaac just like he did to his father, Abraham. The promise was that his descendants would become as numerous as the stars of the sky and all the lands where they lived would be given to them. And through his descendants all the nations of the earth would be blessed. God promised.

          God made a promise to Jacob that his descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth and they would be spread out in all directions. Again, all the families of the earth will be blessed through Jacob and his descendants. God promised that he would be with him until he had finished giving him everything he had promised.

          God promised to be with Moses as he led the Israelites out of Egypt. He promised to care for them and protect them as they traveled. And he promised that he would lead them to a promised land that was flowing with milk and honey. Once they arrived at the Jordan River God promised to be with them when they entered and that he would destroy all the nations living in the land.

          God promised that even when he had banished them to live among the nations to which the Lord had exiled them that he would take them back if they would obey his commands with all their heart and soul. The Lord promised to return everything they had possessed before, all their land and all their possessions and he would make them even more prosperous than they were before. God promised that he would change their hearts and the hearts of their descendants so that they would love Him with all their heart and soul…and that they might live.

          That was grace, a gift of God. He made a promise and he kept it.  All those promises God made…they’re still in effect. The reason being is that we are those descendants God told Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob about. 

          Since we’ve been adopted into the family of God we are joint heirs with God’s chosen people from way back when. And it’s all because of God’s grace. It’s all because God made a promise and he’s keeping it. It’s all because God is compassionate, loving, gracious and very patient.

          God is gracious and keeps his promises but we aren’t always so gracious and, to be honest, we don’t always keep our promises. And sometimes we make promises that we haven’t thought through. We feel an obligation to keep them but sometimes, like Herod, they get us into a spot we wished we weren’t in.

          But thank God, he promised that he would be gracious toward his children. No one knew exactly what God would do that or how everyone just knew that God kept his promises.

          And then after many, many generations the promise begins to be fulfilled in the life of Jesus the Christ, who lived and died and rose again just so we could receive God’s grace of forgiveness and eternal life.

          What are we to do with something like that? What are we supposed to do with this gift of grace? There’s no way anyone could ever pay for this gift. So, what are we to do?

          Peter tells us in his epistle that we are…“living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple…you are a chosen people…royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession.” And because of that Peter says, “…you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” “…all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.”

          So, what do we do when we’ve received a gift that is beyond putting a price on? Well, what do you do when and if you receive a gift that you never imagined in your wildest dreams you’d ever have?

          They would probably be shouts of joy, tears of happiness, hugs, laughter, kisses, and a whole lot of unbelief. The emotions felt when receiving a gift like that are akin to worship.

          So, we can let God know how much we appreciate his gift of grace by worshipping him with all our might, by singing with all our might, dancing with all our might like David, praying with all our might, and serving him as he demonstrated to us in Jesus’ life, trusting in him to provide everything we need when we have nothing but our hearts and souls to give him.

          We can’t ever repay him for this gift of grace but we can love him with all that we are and we can serve him by showing others how much he loves them.

          God’s grace was promised to us a long, long time ago and he is still keeping his promise. We, the descendants of his chosen people, are still receiving his grace because God always keeps his promises.

          Thanks be to God for his grace. Amen.

Rejected

          So...did anyone take a risk this week?  Anybody try something risky with their faith? How did it go? Was the risk worth it? Were you well received or were you rejected? Will you try again?

          David, Paul, and Jesus all took risks. They were, each one, rejected for their efforts more often than not. Yet they kept on doing what they were called by God to do.

          Samuel was sent by God to Jesse’s family to anoint the next king. Six of Jesse’s sons were paraded before Samuel; everyone looked like the perfect one to be anointed king. Yet none of them met God’s criteria. The one he wanted was the one everyone thought of as the runt. He was also handsome, ruddy looking they said, and a womanizer but he was the one chosen by God to lead the people of Israel. He became a great king and has been set up as an example of what a king should be.

          We have seen in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians that he was rejected by that church. His letters, his strong, powerful words, exhibit great power but apparently he didn’t exactly impress the folks in Corinth with his speech or by his looks. He was replaced by “super” apostles. You know the ones with the glib tongues and fancy, charismatic speech.

          Jesus, our Lord, was rejected in his own home town. When he began to teach in the meeting place at first they were impressed with his knowledge but then they remembered that he had grown up in a carpenter’s house. They questioned how he could have gotten so smart. They didn’t believe he could be the Son of God. His own old friends tried to stone him. Because of their lack of faith he wasn’t able to heal many folks in his home town.

          And so he sent out his disciples, in pairs, to prepare the neighboring towns for what was coming. Jesus warned them that they might not always be welcome in some of the communities; a nice way of saying they may be rejected.

          And yet…David, Paul, Jesus, and his disciples went ahead with the work they had been given the authority to do. Thank God they did. Can you imagine where any of us would be today if they hadn’t?

          So, when we endeavor to do what God calls us to do and we encounter rejection should we be surprised? No. In fact we have some great examples of what we should do when we are rejected.

          The first being that we shouldn’t stop doing what God is calling us to do. As the Lord told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

          How often do we think we’re not qualified to do something like lead prayer or a Bible study or lead worship or tell someone about Jesus? Friends, if God is speaking to your heart; if you’re feeling the call to do something for the Lord; then the first thing for any of us to do is trust in God’s grace. His grace is enough for you and me.

          Actually, when we think about it, that’s all we need. Just like Jesus told the disciples that they didn’t need to take anything else with them when they went into the villages to teach and to cast out demons and to heal neither do we need anything else.

          All we need is God’s grace…and his call to us to love and serve Him and our neighbors.

          So, we don’t think we have it in us to do that kind of work. Think about it. Do we really want to tell God we can’t or won’t do it when we know, deep in our hearts, that he is the One calling us to this work? I don’t.

          Wendell Berry wrote a poem called “Manifesto—The Mad Farmer’s Liberation Front.” It was originally published in 1991. Listen to what he had to say about taking risks and going against the grain.

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.

So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion – put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

          Friends, God is calling us to go out and tell others about his kingdom and his Good News. He is calling us to not be like the world. He is calling us to be different to give our all to Him. Can we do that and not worry about being rejected by the world? I think we can. And I think we should.

          Thanks be to God for his grace. Amen.

Risky Faith

Have you ever done anything risky? Have you ever attempted something you’d never done before, something you weren’t sure what the outcome would be? Was the risk physically, mentally, spiritually or financially dangerous? How long has it been since you took a risk? Or…do you face risks all the time? Maybe you’re one of those who just live to risk it all.


What does it take to spur us to take a chance and risk everything, to step out in faith? Do we need some assurance that there is at least some chance for a great reward?

Maybe you’re not a risk taker and never have been. Maybe you’ve played it safe your whole life. Maybe you’ve never had to risk everything. Maybe you’ve never had to lay it all on the line hoping beyond hope that this time the risk would be worth it.

Paul is asking the Corinthian church to step up their mission giving to help the other church startups who are struggling. It seems like such an innocent request. He’s just asking them to give a little more from their nest eggs of plenty to help these other churches who haven’t been able to build up a reserve. Paul’s asking them to take a chance. Maybe those they help will be able to return the favor when they are in a crisis. Maybe…they’ll be able to help Corinth sometime in the future.

It’s a risk because maybe they won’t be able to ever help. Maybe they will and maybe they won’t but still Paul is issuing the challenge to the Corinthian church to take a chance.

It’s not easy to take a chance on the unknown. It’s not so easy to let go of what we’ve worked so hard to build up. It’s not always so easy to trust in the goodness of our fellowman…or God.

But what if we were on the other end of this scenario? What if we were the ones in need? What would we be willing to risk just to achieve some degree of safety where we weren’t always worrying about what tomorrow would bring?

Maybe it makes a difference how desperate we are. Does it make a difference if it’s our health or our possessions or savings or our soul that’s in jeopardy?

In our gospel lesson Jairus was taking a risk coming to Jesus for help. He was at the end of his rope and Jesus was his last chance to save his daughter. He was willing to be ostracized for coming to Jesus to ask him to heal his daughter.

The woman who’d been suffering for 12 years took a risk. She didn’t really know if it would work or not but she’d seen or heard about this power Jesus had to heal. What could it hurt just to push her way through the crowd to touch the hem of his robe? Somewhere deep within her being she knew that’s all she needed to do to be freed from this affliction.

But it was a risk. What if she couldn’t get through the press of people? What if one of the disciples stopped her just before she could touch his robe? What if she was mistaken and it didn’t work?

She believed it was worth the risk and she succeeded in touching his robe but then…she heard Jesus questioning in a stern and loud voice, “Who touched my robe?” She knew he knew. Now what was she to do?

He sounded upset…and angry. Was he going to take her healing back? Now what?

So, she stiffened her resolve and spoke up. She admitted that she was the one who had touched his robe. She told him everything…and he listened.

 34Jesus said to her, "Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you're healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague."

There’s the reason for taking the risk of faith. She risked everything and because of her faith she was healed and whole again.

So, is the question, “What will we gain if we take a risk of faith?” Is the risk taking all about making things better for us; is it about securing one of the rooms Jesus said he was preparing for us? I don’t think so.

We read God’s word to us and by His grace we believe and trust that God will keep his promise of forgiveness and eternal life. What’s the risk in doing that and if its all grace then is it really a risk? What do you think?

This is what I think. I think that the risk of faith Jesus is talking about is going against the status quo, walking against the flow instead of floating downstream. I believe that’s the risk of faith. Accepting that Jesus is God’s Son and that he did in fact die for our sins, rose from the grave defeating death forever, and ascended into to heaven to intercede before God for us and to prepare a place for us in heaven. The risk maybe that the world we live in, the community we live in may laugh at us, may ridicule us for this belief, may reject us as stupid and silly people for putting our faith in a God no one has ever seen.

In some places in this world the risk of faith could cost them their livelihood and even their lives. And still…there are people willing to accept that risk because they believe in God’s grace.

Good friends, are we willing to take a risk of faith and give our whole lives and being to the One who is patiently waiting for our decision? Jesus’ robe is just within our fingertips reach. Are we willing to push our way through the crowd and touch it?

Jairus risked his reputation and standing in the community to come to Jesus. The woman wasn’t sure what she was risking but her faith gave her the strength she needed to reach out and touch His robe.

Good friends, take a chance on Jesus and touch his robe, take his hand and let him lift you up. The risk is worth it.

I haven’t said what you’d gain if you took the risk, but the woman and Jairus both received a gift that was beyond price, the gift of freedom. They were freed from the bonds of this world and that was worth the risk.

You and I can also be freed from those things that are weighing us down if we just risk our faith and place our hope in Jesus.

Thanks be to God for his loving and forgiving grace. Amen.